1895 Winchester 30-03 Range Report - Update after Bedding

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Marc
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1895 Winchester 30-03 Range Report - Update after Bedding

Post by Marc »

I took the new 1895 for a more thorough range test yesterday.
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I was fire forming brass made from necked up 270 brass and I had a couple other problems that handicapped the rifle but it shows potential. I started with the 165 Ranch Dog bullet sized to .311" and seated over 18 grains of 2400. I fired two rounds at 25 yards to make sure I was on paper and then moved the target to 50 yards and fired a five shot group. The five shot group went just under 3 inches.
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I then moved the target out to 100 yards and fired another five shots. Four of those went under 2 inches and the other round opened the group to 3-1/2 inches.
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I then went to the 180 Sierra spitzer and 52 grains of H4350. These bullets have a long jump to the lands. I seated the first one to 3.550" and it chambered freely with no contact with the lands. I went ahead and seated them to 3.34" which is magazine length so they have over .210" jump to the lands. The Sierra group can be seen in the first target and spanned 6 inches. You can see how each shot climbed a couple inches and then the fifth went back down. The cast bullet group also has more vertical than horizontal dispersion. I think the vertical dispersion is caused by the butt stock working up and down against the receiver. There is a lot of slop there. The heavier recoil of the jacketed loads caused more movement and more dispersion.

Before my next range test, I am going to bed the butt stock to the receiver. I need to improve my cast bullet seating process too. I didn't trim the brass so I had different degrees of flare on the case mouths. Some bullets got shaved down by insufficiently flared cases. The neck portion of the seating die is also to small and it squeezes the flare down when bullets are seated. I have other seating dies so I will find the one with the largest neck for cast bullets. Now that the brass is fire formed I will also trim the cases. The crown is ugly too but I want to give it a fair test before I recrown it. The rifle looks like it will really shoot when I get the wrinkles ironed out.
Last edited by Marc on Fri Oct 08, 2010 6:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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J Miller
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Re: 1895 Winchester 30-03 Range Report

Post by J Miller »

Good report, but when you get a chance, could you post some pics of your ammo? Before, during and after fire forming maybe? That's something I've never had to do.

There have been other posters who have mentioned the looseness of the stock causing accuracy problems. I'm interested in seeing just how much improvement you get when you retest after doing the bedding.

Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts ;) .***
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Sixgun
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Re: 1895 Winchester 30-03 Range Report

Post by Sixgun »

Not bad Marc :D Model for model, I have found the 1895's to be the best shooters of the Winchester leverguns.

Yep, gotta watch that crown. Its more important than a pitted barrel. Gas checks are a must for not-so-perfect barrels also.----------Sixgun
Model A Uzi’s
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Marc
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Re: 1895 Winchester 30-03 Range Report

Post by Marc »

Joe, the cases don't really change enough to see. It just looks like a 30-06. I wanted to fire them before I trimmed them because the necks looked a little off center after I expanded them. They should be nice and concentric now and the necks will come out even when I trim them.

What you want to see is when I fire form 30-30 brass to fit the 7-30 Waters. 30-30 case on left, 30-30 case necked to 7MM and fire formed case.
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Sixgun, in my very limited experience, I would have to agree with you about the 1895's being more accurate! This one has only very light pitting. With a new crown it will be a tack driver!
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Marc
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Re: 1895 Winchester 30-03 Range Report

Post by Marc »

I bedded the butt stock to the receiver and tested the same loads that I tested last week. There is a definite improvement. The 180 Sierra spitzer load that had a 6" vertical spread at 100 yards last week went into a nice round 2-3/8" group. The Ranch Dog 165 cast bullet that grouped at 3-1/2" last week grouped slightly larger than the Sierras at 2-11/16" but also produced a round group.
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Since there is no evidence of stringing I don't think the forend needs work but I am going to look at it. I suspect the next improvement will come when I recrown it. It actually shoots better than it should considering the way the crown looks. The other thing is that I may be at the limit of what I can do with open sights at 100 yards. We will see!
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Sixgun
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Re: 1895 Winchester 30-03 Range Report - Update after Bedding

Post by Sixgun »

Marc,
Those last groups look pretty good to me. Those rifles will only shoot so good. I am happy when they shoot 3" or better at 100 meters. Anything under that is a bonus. This way, you can enjoy the rifle without thinking its inaccurate.

I found a few original 30-03 rounds down in the dungeon. If you need a sample, let me know.------------------Sixgun
1952 production 30-06 tracer on left with 30-03 on right. Ha! You see the little bug on the bullet?
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Headstamp of 30-03
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